Hoolana i ka wai ke ola (Life floats on the water near death)
by bloodmagik
Summary: Steve faces the consequences of a split-second decision. Rated M just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

I'm rather stuck with _Ho'omau_ at the moment so I'm hoping that dusting off the cobwebs and writing something new will help.  
This is un-beta'ed so any and all mistakes are mine.

 **Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing to do with Hawaii Five-0 and promise to put Steve back when I'm finished whumping him.

 **Warnings: mentions of illness, various bodily fluids and death so read on at your own risk...**

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 ** _Ho`olana i ka wai ke ole_ : Life floats on the water (near death). **I took that to mean that life is precious.

* * *

 _Five-0 HQ, Iolani Palace._

 _1039 AM._

There's a gray splodge hovering in the right hand side of his vision, blocking out everything from the door to his office to the pillar displaying some of Five-0's more prestigious awards, and Steve sighs when he realizes that it can only mean one thing: a migraine. And just in time for his budget meeting with Denning.

Reaching for the drawer he keeps his meds in, Steve wonders if he'd get away with sending Danny in his place because, while there's no pain yet, he knows it won't be long until it hits. He'll be about as much use as a chocolate teapot once it does; never mind discussing spending budgets, Steve will be lucky if he manages to speak at all. His tongue already feels overly thick and heavy in his mouth and he's sure that if he were to say something out loud, his speech would be slurred and stilted-sounding. And then there's the tingling feeling in his left hand, like pins and needles only duller. If he didn't know any better, he would probably suspect that he was having a stroke.

But no, it's a just an oncoming migraine - a doozy, if the tingling in his hand is to be believed, but a migraine non-the-less - and Steve reminds himself of that as he flexes his fingers before wrapping them around the packet of pills near the back of the drawer. Fumbling with the cardboard sleeve, he drops it onto his desk and then hangs his head in despair when he realizes he gave his last pill to Kono a few weeks back. Normally he would never grudge any of his team anything but he's definitely regretting being so generous now that he's going to have to go without and, sighing, Steve leans his elbows on his desktop and runs his hands up over his face. There's nothing else for it – he's going to have to cancel his meeting with the governor.

Reaching for the phone, he calls Denning's office and manages to convince Linda, Denning's secretary, to push his meeting back to the same time next week. Thankfully, Linda doesn't pepper him with questions about why he's not going to make it - she just thanks him for calling and promises to let Denning know, and Steve is extremely grateful to her for not reaming him out for cancelling at the last minute. He knows better than to expect the same from the governor when they meet next Wednesday.

Setting the phone back in its cradle, Steve rubs at his right eye in a vain attempt to clear the blind spot and then reaches for his cell phone and truck keys. If he leaves now, he should be able to make it home before the pain hits and he's forced to spend the rest of the day curled up in bed or kneeling in front of the toilet. Either way, he'll be waiting for the inevitable and as he rounds his desk, knocking his hip off the corner in the process, he briefly considers sticking his fingers down his throat in the hope that forcing himself to be sick will hurry things along. It's naïve thinking at best but Steve allows himself that little glimmer of hope as he makes his way across the bullpen towards Danny's office.

Even though he can physically feel the polished metal handrail under his fingers, mentally, his hand feels detached from his body, like it belongs to someone else. It's unnerving and Steve glances down at it to reassure himself that no, his hand hasn't magically separated from his body as he pushes his way into his partner's office. He props himself up against the doorjamb and, unsurprisingly, it's not long before a snarky comment is directed his way.

Danny looks up from the report he's typing up and frowns. "What's with the aneurysm face? Did we get something?"

Steve ignores the jibe. "I'm out for the rest of the day," he tells his partner, working hard to not slur or stumble over the words. The gray splodge hovering in front of his right eye has grown enough to obscure the majority of his vision in the time it's taken for him to get up out of his chair and walk the 60-odd feet to Danny's office so he needs to make this quick if he's going to make it home; squinting in the bright sunlight that's streaming in through the blinds behind Danny's desk, Steve adds, "You're in charge," before using the doorframe to push himself upright.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Danny's pushing his chair back away from his desk when Steve turns back to squint at his partner slash best friend.

"You're in charge," he repeats slowly, deliberately mimicking the way Danny talks to fourteen-year-old Gracie when he's trying to explain something complicated. It's not so much because his tongue feels like its made out of lead but more because Danny's staring at him like he's grown a second head. And yeah, okay, maybe Danny has a point because Steve can't remember the last time he voluntarily left the office early (hitting off to drink Longboards at the Hilton with Danny, Chin and Kono doesn't count).

So instead of doing that infuriating – Danny's word, not his – thing where he clams up and walks away, Steve throws his partner a bone. It's only fair since he's effectively dumping Danny in it by leaving him to deal with any cases that crop up solo; Chin and Kono are both on Maui testifying against a drug runner whose illicit activities lead him to try to rob one of the governor's close personal friends on Oahu.

Sluggishly indicating the general area around his head, Steve admits, "I'm getting a migraine and all of my meds are at home." He's about to tell Danny that he'll be back in tomorrow and not to call him unless there's an emergency but the sight of his partner closing the lid of his laptop makes him stop and he blinks stupidly at the keys clenched in Danny's hand when the blond man pushes himself up out of his chair.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Danny counters as he skirts around the end of his desk. Pausing to grab his cellphone, the detective snorts when he looks up to find Steve staring at him blankly. "I'm driving you home," he says, making sure to keep the volume down as he strides past Steve to shove open his office door. "You're squinting at me like I'm an oddity on display at Ripley's Believe It or Not, which I'm guessing means you've got something funky going on with your eyesight. Yes?"

Steve's lip twitches. It's barely noticeable but Danny's been Steve's partner long enough to know most of the man's tells and this is one of them.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Danny mutters, indicating for Steve to follow him along the corridor towards the main door.

In the car, Steve cracks the window and then closes his eyes and leans back in his seat as Danny steers the Camaro towards home. He's starting to feel a little nauseous and he can tell that his partner is making a conscious effort to take the corners smoothly. If Steve wasn't so worried about puking in Danny's precious Camaro, he'd probably make an off-hand comment about his partner choosing today of all days to decide to drive like a man on a mission (i.e., like he does) and not an old lady; the way Danny pulled out of the palace's parking lot made Steve's stomach pitch dangerously and Steve is eternally grateful that Danny noticed him swallowing hard and slowed down before he ended up tossing his cookies.

Thankfully, Steve's cookies are still intact when Danny pulls into his driveway and he waves off the offer of help, telling his partner that he neither wants, nor needs, a babysitter since he plans on sleeping until this migraine is nothing but a distant memory. Danny makes him promise to check in later before he drives away – because, as Danny explains, Steve is a trouble-magnet and shouldn't be left unsupervised – and then Steve waits (out of habit, more than anything) for the Camaro to become a speck in the distance before dragging himself up the porch steps and going inside.

Locking the front door, he grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and then squints blearily at the keypad on the wall when he pauses at the bottom of the stairs to set the alarm. The loud beeps that signals the alarm activating sets his teeth on edge and Steve grimaces as he uses the handrail to pull himself up to the second floor. There's sweat beading beneath the waistband of his cargos by the time he reaches the upstairs landing but he ignores it in favor of using his shirtsleeve to wipe away the sweat on his forehead and then bends down to unlace his boots. The movement causes bile to rise up into the back of his throat and Steve pauses with a hand clamped over his mouth, unsure if he's going to have to make a run for the bathroom.

A minute or so later - once he's sure that his stomach is going to behave - he kicks off his boots and then lets himself fall sideways onto his bed, telling himself that he'll grab the trashcan from the bathroom in a minute, just in case. Ten minutes later, he's fast asleep, lying flat out on his back with an arm over his eyes to block out the strands of sunlight coming in through the blind above his head.

 _To be continued…_

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As always, any feedback is greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** _Grace's age has been changed from 8 to 14._

Thank you to everyone for the kind reviews, and to everyone who favourited and followed. It's much appreciated. :)

* * *

 _Ten days earlier._

 _Sal's boxing gym, Diamond Head.  
1612 hours. _

Keanu glances up from his calculus textbook at the sound of someone's punch hitting home and smiles when he realizes that it's his older brother, Kame, who landed it. He spends most of his afternoons here, sitting in the corner with a school textbook laid out across his lap, while Kame lifts weights or spars with his friends; it's either this or wait out on the sidewalk outside their apartment building until his mom is finished at work and since the gym has air-conditioning and a water cooler, it won out. Plus, Keanu kind of likes hanging out with Kame, even though he knows that Kame doesn't feel the same way – having to drag your fourteen-year-old brother around with you doesn't exactly give you a lot of street cred.

So that's why Keanu plonks himself in one of the corners out of the way and does his best not to eavesdrop. The regulars are so used to having him around now that some of them even bring him snacks to munch on while he struggles to get his head around linear equations and functions and every once in a while, Sal will offer to show him the ropes. Keanu always declines politely and tells the older man that he really needs to study if he's going to pass Math this semester - his mom works all hours to make enough money to send him to his new fancy private school and the last thing Keanu wants to do is disappoint her by failing; his grade point average has fallen from a 3.0 to a 2.3 already this semester so he's in jeopardy of being kicked off the lacrosse team if he doesn't pass his next quiz with flying colors.

The equation he's working on is starting to fry his brain and Keanu roughly pushes his textbook aside when he realizes that he's gotten it wrong _again_. He's due a break soon anyways, so he tucks his workbook and pencil into his textbook and grabs the paper cup he took from the pile next to the water cooler when he came in, and wanders over to the far corner of the gym to re-fill it. While he's holding down the tap, he can't help but overhear what Kame and their cousin, Worm, are talking about.

Worm's real name is Miguel Hamakua, but the only person that calls him that is their Grandmother, who raised him and his older brother after their mom – Keanu's auntie – died in a car accident when Worm was 5 and Martin, 9. He's tall and skinny with a close-cropped haircut - hence the nickname - and according to what he's telling Kame in between punches, it seems that his brother was shanked in prison last night. Luckily, Martin survived but he's now facing 15 years in Halawa for trying to transport just under a kilo of Coke across the island for the Tongan gang he's been hanging around; needless to say, the gang's ringleaders aren't happy and Worm's worried they're going to turn up at their Grandma's house looking for a way to recoup their losses. Or worse, retribution.

When Worm names the cop responsible, Keanu looks up from where he's toeing at a scuff on the worn vinyl flooring. He actually met the guy a few weeks ago when he and his partner came into school on Career Day, and he remembers being secretly awed by the gold shields and guns at their hips. But he doesn't tell Kame and Worm that, since the two of them are both currently cursing the man's very existence. Instead, he pipes up, "I heard McGarrett once hung a suspect off a roof," and both Kame and Worm stop what they're doing and turn to look at him.

"Where'd you hear that?" Worm asks, eyeing Keanu with suspicion as he wipes his sweaty forehead on the back of his boxing glove.

Wrinkling his nose as the older boy shakes off his glove onto the floor, Keanu explains,

"There's this girl in my class... Her dad and McGarrett are partners. She's really close to him, apparently – she told Alicia, who told Tommy, who told me, that she calls him 'Uncle' and spends weekends at his house and - "

"Okay, Squirt, we get it," Kame interrupts, leaning over the ropes to swipe at Keanu's head; Keanu ducks out of habit - he's been on the receiving end of Kame's punches a few times and had the awkward job of explaining the resulting bruises to more than one concerned teacher - and then scowls up at his brother, who laughs and gestures to the corner where Keanu's books are piled up on the floor. "Go on, scram," he orders, turning his back on his little brother. "Go make like a good little nerd and finish your homework."

Keanu risks flipping Kame off before turning on his heel to stalk back to his corner, where he buries his nose in his textbook once more. He tries to concentrate on the equation he was working on before but its no use; Kame's _nerd_ jibe is playing on repeat inside his head and the sound of gloves hitting practice pads and gloves on flesh is doing nothing to drown it out. It sucks, Keanu thinks, because Kame is closest thing he has to a father figure since his actual father left them six years ago and all he wants is to make his brother proud. Getting good grades at school isn't doing it so he's going to have to come up with another idea if he's going to make an impression on Kame anytime soon. And he might just have one already.

Early the next morning, he borrows his little sister's bike and cycles the six blocks to his Grandmother's house. Worm answers the door looking like he hasn't slept at all and its all Keanu can do to convince the older boy to not shut the door in his face. He quickly explain how Worm fits into his 'master plan' and when he's done, Worm eyes him suspiciously, and then leans forwards to glance up and down the street, like he's expecting Ashton Kutcher to pop up from behind the garbage cans and declare that he's being _Punked_.

"So what you're saying is that _you_ – " The older boy pushes his fingertip into Keanu's sternum. "Want _me_ to teach you how to fight?" Keanu nods eagerly but it's not enough because Worm shakes his head and pushes himself away from where he's using the doorframe to prop himself up.

"I'll pay you," Keanu offers desperately, using his foot to block the door as Worm goes to shut it in his face. "I have a paper route. I'll give you half of what I make for the next month if you show me a few moves. Please." He risks snagging the hem of Worm's wrinkled t-shirt as he adds, " _Please_ … I want to be able to defend myself. And I want Kame to see me as more than just his geeky little brother." Luckily, it seems that no one - not even a petty criminal like Worm - can resist Keanu's puppy eyes because the older boy relents at the mention of his cousin slash best friend. He runs a hand over his close-shaven head and then sighs.

"Okay, I'll bite," Worm says, a plan of his own forming at the sight of his easily-swayed little cousin bouncing up and down on his doorstep. "But forget about the money, I want you to do something for me instead. For Grams, actually."

"Anything," Keanu promises and Worm's smile grows exponentially, because Keanu genuinely loves his grandmother and Worm knows that his cousin would do anything for her. He's counting on it as he opens the front door fully and gestures for Keanu to follow him inside. Heading for the kitchen, he promises the kid five hundred bucks for doing what he calls 'surveillance and target acquisition', but Keanu seems hesitant and Worm knows he's going to have to step it up if he's ever going to persuade the younger boy to help him get the information he needs to placate his brother's vengeful gang bosses.

He's got it all figured out: once Keanu gets him what he needs, he'll befriend The Crips and tell them that he has intel that could help them take out McGarrett and his team. But before he gives it to them, they need to guarantee that they'll call off the hit on his brother. He's pretty sure that the big bosses will agree – Martin may have cost them 26k when he got caught but Worm knows for a fact that Five-0 has cost them _at least_ ten times that in the last two months alone. And, as it so happens, McGarrett's the sole witness in Martin's drug running case. No McGarrett, no case - the DA won't have any choice but the drop the charges and let Martin go free.

Everybody wins.

"Think of Grams," Worm cajoles, leaning forwards in his chair to rest his forearms on the tabletop. "If you don't want to do this for me or Martin, then do it for her. It'll kill her if Martin ends up in Halawa alongside the guy who killed your pops."

Across the table, Keanu's eyes have gone dark and Worm knows that he's hit the nail on the head; Keanu will do anything Worm asks of him without question and, smiling wickedly, he leans back in his seat. "Family first, yeah?" he says, holding out in his fisted hand.

"Family first," Keanu repeats, bumping his own fist against Worm's to seal the deal.

H50*H50*H50

 _Sacred Heart Academy.  
0857 hours._

Keanu has math second period on Monday and he hovers at the front of the classroom momentarily before making his way towards the table in the back right hand corner of the room. There's only one person sitting at it – a girl with long brown hair that's been pulled back into a complicated looking braid – and Keanu wipes his sweaty palms on the sides of his uniform pants as he skirts around the teacher's desk to join her. The girl doesn't look up from where she's doodling in her notebook and Keanu takes a deep breath before quietly clearing his throat to get her attention.

"Is there anyone sitting here?" he asks, pointing to the chair beside the girl when she looks up. She shakes her head so Keanu lets his backpack slide down over his shoulder and sets it on the table. "I'm Keanu," he says, glancing over at the girl from where he's digging through his bag for his textbook.

"Grace." The girl offers him a hesitant smile before going back to doodling daisy chains down the margin of her workbook in pink and yellow gel pen.

"Nice to meet you," he says, setting his own workbook down on the desk. It's nowhere near as colorful as Grace's – instead of pretty flowers his margins are full of penciled-in corrections (mostly Mom's, since she still insists on checking his homework when he's done) and re-worked equations. It sucks, because he was top of his class at his old school and now he's somewhere near the bottom, struggling with the things he used to be able to do in his sleep. With a sigh, Keanu drops into his seat, his first parent-teacher conference playing over and over inside his head – the words 'remedial' and 'tutor' had been bounced around and his mom's smile had faltered because both cost money that she didn't have. He'd promised to try harder but his grades have continued to drop steadily as the problems in his textbook become more and more complicated.

He's not sure whether or not to be thankful when his daydream is interrupted a minute or so later by the arrival of his math teacher. Grace elbows him in the ribs when Mr. Croft tells everyone to turn to page 84 and read the paragraph on quadratic equations _in silence_ and then, once they've done that, old Crofty shows them how to work through the first of the problems in their books on the board. While he's copying out the next question Keanu leans across and discreetly taps Grace on the arm. "Are you getting any of this?" he whispers, gesturing towards the white board. "I lost him at cross-multiplying _x-6_ by _x+7._ "

It's a lie. Keanu actually learned about this stuff at his last school but Grace's smile makes it worth the risk of being caught; reaching across him, Grace uses her pen to point to the first _x_ in the equation.  
"You multiply everything else in the second bracket by _x_ first and then work your way through," she explains quietly, scribbling the first line of answers down underneath where Keanu has carefully copied out the problem. "So this becomes _x squared plus seven x._ Then you do the same with the _negative six_ and simplify. You should end up with _x squared plus x minus 42._ See?"

Smiling, Keanu nods. "Yeah, I think I've got it now," he says. "Thanks."

He spends the rest of the lesson faking unfamiliarity and blows out a relieved breath when the bell rings signaling the end of class. Faking is a lot harder than he thought it would and he almost blew his cover when he spotted a mistake in Grace's workings – luckily a simple 'how did you get that?' was enough to keep everything on track and Grace had grinned self-consciously, non-the-wiser to Keanu's less-than-admirable intentions as she scribbled out the mistake and replaced it with the correct answer. He needs a minute to compose himself before moving onto step two of what Worm dubbed 'Nuestro pequeño secreto' so he quickly gathers up his books and pencil case, and then hurries out into the hall before Grace has even closed her textbook. Leaning against one of the lockers outside, Keanu fidgets with the strap on his bag until he spots Grace coming out of the classroom with two girlfriends in tow.

"Grace. Hey, wait up…"

She tilts her head inquisitively when she hears her name and Keanu pushes himself upright as she comes to stand in front of him. His palms are sweaty again and he has to resist the urge to wipe them on his pants as Grace waits for him to speak, a curious smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"I was wondering if we could maybe… If you have a…"

He breaks off to swallow the lump that's suddenly appeared in his throat and wonders, not for the first time, just what he's gotten himself into; he'd never have been so bold as to walk right over to one of the pretty, popular girls if it wasn't for the incentive Worm promised him for doing him this favor and he still can't quite believe that he's gotten away with it thus far. If Grace weren't standing right there, Keanu would probably pinch himself except, well… that would be kinda weird. So, instead, he clears his throat and opens his mouth to try again.

Grace beats him to it, though, hugging her books close to her chest as she eyes him curiously. "Are you asking me to be your 'study buddy'?" she asks. Her friends are watching them from across the hall, giggling between themselves and Keanu forces himself to stand up a little straighter as he aims an award-winning smile at his classmate.

"It's just that I'm really struggling," he half-fibs. "And my mom's going to be so disappointed if I don't get my grades up. She works really hard to be able to afford to send me here and it'll kill her if I end up flunking out." Grace's brown eyes have gotten bigger and there's a sad tic pulling at the corner of her mouth as Keanu continues, "You made quadratic equations sound so simple so I was kinda hoping that you wouldn't mind maybe tutoring me? Outside of school…?"

"What, at, like, each other's houses?" Grace asks, her nose wrinkling as she considers Keanu's offer. It must pass whatever test she's set because a few seconds later she shrugs and says, "I'll have to check with my mom and step-dad but it should be okay if it's for school. Does tomorrow work?"

"I can't do tomorrow," Keanu lies smoothly, crossing his fingers behind his back. "My brother's teaching me how to box and he's booked the ring so I can practice sparring with him. How about Wednesday?"

"I'm going to my uncle's house straight after school," Grace counters with an apologetic one-shouldered shrug. "It's my dad's afternoon but he has to go to court for work, so my Uncle Steve is coming to pick me up. Assuming he doesn't get called out to something, that is."

"Your dad's a cop, right?" Keanu asks, even though he already knows fine well what Grace Williams' dad does for a living and who he's partnered with courtesy of Google.

Grace's delighted smile lights up her entire face. "He's Five-0, actually," she says proudly. "He worked homicide when he first moved here but then Uncle Steve started Five-0 and Danno became his partner. Before that he was a detective in New Jersey."

"Wow…" Keanu breathes, letting his eyes go wide. "So, Commander McGarrett's your uncle?" he asks. "I've seen him on the new a coupl'a times. Is it true that he hung a guy off a roof to get a confession out of him? And that he once killed a man with just his bare hands?" He's rambling, like he always does when he's nervous, and he automatically clamps his mouth shut when he realizes that Grace is openly staring at him.  
"Sorry," he mumbles, dropping his gaze to his shoes. "It's just… he sounds totally kick-ass and my little sister has, like, the biggest schoolgirl crush on him - she'd be so jealous if I got to meet him and she didn't. I'd have bragging rights for _months_."

"I could ask if we can study at his place, if you'd like," Grace offers with a pleased smile as she fumbles in her skirt pocket for her cellphone. "Uncle Steve's pretty cool. I bet if you asked, he'd give you a few pointers." When Keanu blinks at her blankly, she adds, "Y'know, for your sparring thing? He actually beat Chuck Liddell – he's a mixed martial arts fighter - a few years ago in a charity match."

Keanu pretends to give himself a shake. "Oh. Yeah, that'd be awesome," he says, returning Grace's grin.

"Okay, be right back, then. I'm gonna call him right now and check," Grace says, turning away with her phone already up by her ear. She wanders across the rapidly emptying hallway to lean against the bank of lockers and Keanu quickly wipes his sweaty hands on his pants leg just as Grace greets her uncle with a chipper, "Hi, Uncle Steve. No, I'm okay, I just wanted to ask you something…"


	3. Chapter 3

_nā ʻaumākua:_ Hawaiian spiritual ancestors.

As usual, this is un-beta'ed so any and all mistakes are my own.

* * *

 _The next day._

 _Room 203, Geography block. Sacred Heart Academy.  
_ _1429 hours._

Keanu jumps when the final bell rings, even though he's spent the last hour watching the minute hand on the clock above Miss Ramsay's desk and, pushing his chair back from the table, he hurriedly shoves his books and pencil case into his bag and then heads out into the corridor to grab his calculus textbook from his locker. He's meeting Grace on the steps out front in a couple of minutes and then they're going to her uncle's – McGarrett's – house to 'study', and he nervously fingers the torn-off bit of paper in his jeans pocket as he makes his way along the hall to the main doors; Worm gave him a list of things to look out for while he's there and now the onus is on Keanu to try to snoop without getting caught. Which is probably going to be harder than it sounds given that Grace's uncle is ex-military and probably has eyes in the back of his head.

Grace waves when she spots him and then slides down off the wall she's been sitting on. Pointing towards a blue Chevy pick-up across the street, she tells him, "That's my uncle's truck over there," as the two of them make their way down the steps towards the parking lot and Keanu's smile falters when he spots the ex-Navy SEAL lounging against the driver's side door, waiting for them. Grace greets her uncle with a chipper 'Hi, Uncle Steve' and a hug, and then grabs Keanu's wrist to pull him forwards from where he's been hovering awkwardly at her heels. "This is my friend, Keanu," she tells her uncle before turning back to smile at him encouragingly. "Keanu, this is my Uncle Steve."

The way McGarrett is eyeing him causes a lump to form in Keanu's throat and he's forced to swallow hard before opening his mouth to speak. "Nice to meet you, sir," he mumbles, fighting the urge to drop his eyes to his shoes. The ex-SEAL's gaze is cold and distrustful and, for a moment, Keanu seriously considers turning on his heel and making a run for it; McGarrett hasn't even opened his mouth yet and Keanu's already so intimidated that he can't even think straight. He has no idea how, or even _if_ , he's going to be able to go through with this once they get to the guy's house. If it weren't for Gram being involved, he would never have agreed to be part of Worm's little scheme. But the thought of some lowlife coming after his grandmother because of his cousin's stupidity is just too much to bear so, instead of running away with his tail between his legs and telling Worm to keep his stupid incentive money, Keanu musters up a polite, "Thank you for letting me come over today," and then allows Grace to pull him into the back seat of the blue truck's cab.

The commander's poker face doesn't falter at all on the twenty-five minute drive to his house and Keanu wonders if it's possible that the man is actually part human, part robot as he stares out of the window and tries to remember the route they're taking. Grace is her usual bubbly self and chatters away, updating her uncle on everything from her weekend plans with someone called 'Danno' to the round-off back tuck she's been working on at cheerleading practice. Keanu grins as she uses her hands to emphasize just how awesome it felt to _finally_ nail the trick after weeks of bruised knees and several twisted ankles and it's only when they pull into the driveway, and he glances up at the rearview mirror, that he notices McGarrett's stoney expression softening into a small, fond smile as he watches Grace gesture emphatically in her seat.

Inside, Grace leads the way through the open-plan living room to a large dining table, where she dumps her bag on the tabletop before sinking into the chair next to it. Keanu hesitates, the heavy thud of McGarrett's boots on the hardwood floor somewhere behind him making him wonder whether he'll be bodily removed from the premises if he dares to sit too close to Grace, and then sets his own bag down at the head of the table; it's close enough that they'll still be able to compare notes but far enough away to discourage any prolonged physical contact. Plus, Keanu has a pretty good view of the living room – or more specifically, McGarrett and the alarm panel by the front door - from here.

After about forty minutes, he figures that it's safe to do some snooping. McGarrett is sitting at the mahogany desk across from him, his brow furrowed as he works his way through a mountain of paperwork, so the likelihood of Keanu being interrupted right now is probably somewhere between _slim_ and _none_. Slipping his pen into his pocket, he pushes his chair back from the table, causing Grace to look up from the equation she's working on. Feigning embarrassment, he quietly asks her where the bathroom is, hoping that she'll point him upstairs and out of earshot and then hurries through the living room towards the staircase when she does just that. Once in the bathroom, Keanu all but collapses against the locked door and fumbles in his pocket for the crumpled slip of paper Worm had chucked at his head at Sal's yesterday; running his finger down the list, he mentally ticks off one of the points and reminds himself of the others before shoving it back in his pocket and wandering across the room to flush the toilet.

He waits a few minutes before unlocking the door and then peers over the handrail into the living room below to make sure the coast is clear before heading out onto the landing. Worm wants to know if the upper floor is alarmed so Keanu keeps his gaze high when he pokes his head around the first door on his left and sure enough, there's a motion sensor up in the far corner; it's live, too - the blue light at the bottom of little square box flashes warning when it detects him waving at it from the doorway. Gently easing the door shut again, he double checks that there's no one in the living room before continuing along the hall to the next door. This time, the sensor is up and to his right, facing both the en-suite and the doors leading out onto the _lanaii._ He gives it a wave as well - just to be sure - before moving into the room to check the locks on the French doors; they're both basic cylindrical locks which Keanu knows are easily picked with the right tools and he files the information away along with the make, model and color of McGarrett's truck and address to give to Worm later on.

He's barely out of the room when he hears the telltale thud of Magnum boots on the wooden staircase below and, panicking slightly, he quickly tries to put as much distance between himself and the room he suspects is the commander's bedroom before the man appears around the corner. Hurriedly schooling his features into a neutral expression, Keanu manages to time it so that he's just stepping down off the upstairs landing as McGarrett reaches the halfway point of the final block of steps and he keeps his gaze low as he presses himself against the wall to let the ex-SEAL by. Thankfully, the man doesn't appear to suspect a thing and Keanu lets out the breath he wasn't even aware he was holding when McGarrett disappears into the room he's just vacated without so much as a backwards glance.

Tipping his head back against the wall, he murmurs a quiet _thank you_ to his _nā ʻaumākua_ before continuing down the stairs and rejoining Grace at the table in the dining room. He'll give it another ten minutes or so before making his excuses, he tells himself as he slides into the chair on Grace's left and returns her tentative smile. The piece of paper sporting his cousin's chicken-scratch instructions is starting to burn a hole in his pocket and Keanu chews on his bottom lip before quickly scribbling down the make, model and color of McGarrett's truck and the first two characters on the license plate on a fresh page in his notebook. Worm should be back from Sal's by the time he walks the three miles from here to his Grandmother's house and Keanu grins, imagining the look on his cousins face when he's presented with all of the information he asked for.

 _Onakea-Hamakua residence. Ahuwale Street, Kuliouou-Kalani Iki.  
_ _1712 hours._

"How do I know this is legit?" Worm demands, sending the sheet of paper Keanu handed him skidding across the top of the worn vinyl table with a dismissive wave of his hand. "For all I know, you could have just made all of this stuff up. You gotta go back and get me some proof."

Across the table, Keanu's hopeful smile fades and he slumps back in his chair, fuming silently as his cousin lights up a cigarette and blows the resulting smoke out of the side of his mouth. He was expecting Worm to whoop with joy and pat him on the back, all the while making flippant remarks about how it was about time his little cousin grew a pair; instead he was met with a barrage of snide comments about how the intel he put his neck on the line to get isn't good enough. It's enough to make him feel like telling Worm where to stuff his stupid promised paycheck.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Keanu glares at his cousin and then ducks down to fumble for the piece of paper Worm sent flying. He slaps the page down in front of the older boy and jabs his index finger into the tabletop as he continues angrily, "We had a deal. You wanted to know the make and model of the McGarrett's car – I got you it. You wanted to know if the house was alarmed – I got you that too! What more do you want from me, Miguel – to end up in Halawa alongside Martin? 'Cause that's probably where I'm gonna go if McGarrett catches me!"

"Woah. Take it easy, Squirt," Worm says, holding his hands up in mock surrender. Stubbing out his half-smoked cigarette, the older boy's expression sobers as he tells Keanu, "All I'm saying is Crips won't touch this stuff unless they got proof that it's legit." He leaves the implied _'And if they have any reason to suspect that we're trying to get one over on them, my brother's as good as dead'_ left unsaid. Rubbing a hand up over his face, Worm pushes his chair away from the table and walks over to the fridge, where he reaches for the old coffee can on the top and unscrews the plastic lid. With his back to Keanu, he counts out five hundred dollar bills and puts the can back on top of the fridge before setting the cash down on the table in front of his cousin. Tapping the sheet of paper Keanu had shoved under his nose earlier, Worm tells him, "There's another five hundred bucks in it for you if you bring me back something tying McGarrett to this stuff."


End file.
